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The measures of the Argentines: the key study to implement the Size Law entered the final stage

2021-08-09T15:23:50.869Z


In six months they have to complete a study of 14,000 people to form a unified system of clothing measurements.


Paula galinsky

08/09/2021 12:01

  • Clarín.com

  • Society

Updated 08/09/2021 12:01

Infrared 3D scanning takes 10-15 seconds. In that time, the machine can obtain up to

400 body measurements

. Some 8,000 people from 10 cities in the country have already passed through it. In total, they hope to expand the sample to

14,000

. The objective?

Measure Argentine bodies

to create a unified system of clothing sizes. The National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI) is in charge of the anthropometric study, which has already started its final stage. They must share the results in 6 months.

The Sizes Law 27,521 was approved in 2019 and was regulated on June 9.

From that moment, INTI has 240 days (about 8 months) to deliver the final conclusions of the work that will help to form a

Single Standardized Identification System for Clothing Sizes (SUNITI).

Sandra Jung, who has a degree in Applied Mathematics with a focus on Statistics and is responsible for the National Anthropometric Study, tells

Clarín

that the tasks to collect information on Argentine bodies began in 2015. “That year we analyzed the situation in Mendoza and for 2017 we began to take

measurements in a systematic way

”, he assures.

The sanction of the law forced to accelerate the project although later the pandemic stopped it.

“The sample has to be representative.

For this reason, we moved with the machine to different cities of the country.

We were in the capitals of the provinces of Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Mendoza, Corrientes, Chaco and Jujuy.

We also visited Mar del Plata, Rafaela and we are currently in La Plata ”, explains Jung.

The INTI carries out the anthropometric study with a 3D scanner that processes 400 body measurements in 15 seconds.

Between operators, technicians and specialists in Statistics there are 15 people.

The scanner must be installed and calibrated at each location.

They take about

800 samples per site

.

Volunteers can request a turn to participate through the INTI page.

“The idea is to have the bodies of the five Argentine regions measured:

NOA, NEA, Centro, Cuyo and Patagonia

.

We already have 60% of the sample surveyed.

We are lacking mainly the AMBA and Patagonia.

We also plan to go to the capitals of Salta and Entre Ríos ”, he says.

The call is open to people

from 12 years old and with no age limit

.

Volunteers must stand inside a booth with sensors.

"It is a machine that works with infrared technology, which does not affect health", clarifies the coordinator of the study.

The collected data will be studied statistically.

From there the measures will emerge that will later lead to the tables to which the industry will have to adapt.

The NGO Anybody Argentina works to end fashion stereotypes.

It is not yet defined whether letters or numbers will be used.

The details will be defined by a SUNITI Technical Advisory Council, made up of multiple actors linked to the issue: representatives of the Ministry of Productive Development, the clothing chambers, also the Ministry of Health and INADI.

Almost

7 out of 10 people

in Argentina have problems finding clothes of their size and

47% come to question their bodies

when they can't find what to wear.

The data is from 2020 and comes from the annual survey of the NGO Anybody Argentina, which works to make this situation visible and show its consequences.

This is how Mercedes Estruch, its coordinator, explains it.

“Social stereotypes of beauty are imposed on us that make our country the

second in the world with the most cases of eating disorders

.

Furthermore, according to INADI, the second cause of discrimination in Argentina has to do with physical appearance ”, he warns in dialogue with this newspaper.

The law of sizes and the anthropometric study are the first step to break with this culture that "hierarchizes the person by their physical appearance," says Estruch.

“So far we have no real reference to Argentine bodies.

Each brand invents its size chart and, in some cases, they are governed by IRAM standards, which are based on European measurements that have not been updated for 20 years ”, highlights the Anybody Argentina coordinator.

The purpose of the Sizing Law is to unify the measures used by the textile industry.

“With the new norm and the table that will emerge from the anthropometric study,

the one-size-fits-all will cease to exist

.

The place that has only one size must say what it is.

What is unified is the nomenclature ”, comments Estruch.

He clarifies that it has not yet been achieved that clothing stores must guarantee stock of all sizes, but that they continue to work on that and that they believe that by standardizing the table,

the lack of some numbers will be in evidence

.

“We are part of a fat-phobic society in which situations of aesthetic violence are constantly experienced.

We hope that these advances will contribute to generating a change ”, adds the NGO leader, who has been dedicated to this issue for 10 years.

Body diversity

Brenda Mato, a plus-size model and body diversity activist, points out that there are people who dismiss this problem and "associate it with something superficial when, in fact, it defines many areas of our life."

“The bodies end up adapting to the clothes.

And it shouldn't be like that: clothing is not a piece of cloth, it is something that builds our identity, shows the outside who we are and what part of us we want to reflect, ”he says.

He says that in adolescence, for example, not being able to find those items that identify you with your peers implies pointing out.

“At that stage in which belonging implies also agreeing in the way of dressing, those

who do not get clothes are excluded

.

The message that many boys receive is that their body is not well ”, remarks Mato.

But it also has implications for adults.

“Clothes can leave you out of a job, even if you are excellent for the position and have the best CV.

It is difficult to aspire to a position if one does not manage to dress according to expectations.

On the other hand, there are companies that do not hire people because they do not have uniforms of their size ”, he highlights.

This study, Mato contributes, serves as the backbone to organize the apparel industry as occurs today with footwear.

“If you wear 38, there may be a minimum variation depending on the last of the shoe but you will not wear 42 in another place.

With clothes we still haven't achieved that ”, he explains.

And he adds: “Now we

are

going to know

what the real Argentine bodies are like

so that they can begin to manufacture on our measurements and not on the ideas of the bodies that we should have.

I see it as a step towards

inclusion and diversity

.

Although there is still a long way to go, the road is long ”.

MG

Look also

More than a year and a half after its enactment, the Government regulated the Sizes Law

Mariah Schutz, the clothing designer for real bodies: "Sizes are sinister"

Source: clarin

All life articles on 2021-08-09

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